pay minimum wage

The carriers could easily beat that outdated precedent by citing the HOS requirements that a driver rest for 10 hours, and have at least 30 minutes off during the day.

Personally, I don't care much for precedent, as it's like the telephone game you may/may not have played as a kid...where one whispers a message into the next kid's ear, who passes it on to the next, and on down the line. It doesn't take long for the message to be bastardized and become unrecognizeable. Same goes with precedent. Case A might be based upon the Constitution and the laws passed under it. Case B is decided based upon the precedent set by A. C uses B, D uses C, and by the time you get to E, F, and G the "precedent" runs contrary to the law and the Constitution.

 

...along with a 30-60 minute UNPAID lunch break.

Name 1 industry where you're paid to sleep during the time between your work shifts.

 

Even jobs where travel is common or expected, while a motel room is likely paid for by the company, your time off duty while sleeping in that room is NOT compensated. If the company supplied you with a truck equipped with a sleeper, they don't need to provide you with a motel room.

As for costing money to live on the road, name one expense you have on the road that you don't also have at home! You're going to eat food and wear clothes either way. If you have a cooler or fridge in the truck and a camp stove or microwave, your food won't cost you any more than it would at home. The company is buying your fuel and any supplies necessary for you to do your job. The only people who have higher costs to live on the road are the ones who WANT to have higher costs on the road.

 

Really? Wow...

 

Trucking. Depends on who you work for.

 

No, just for the employer's equipment and/or tools (whatever those might be). You don't think if anything happened (such as the company/rental car was broken into and company files/tools/equipment was stolen) while you were "at the bar" that your employer wouldn't hold you responsible? What's stopping you from going to the bar on your 10 now? As long as 4 hours have passed and there is no detectable alcohol in your system by the time you return to duty, there is nothing (other than company policy...which could be the case ANY time you're on the road representing a business in the field) to prevent it. Overtime after 8 isn't the law, but a policy at a few companies. Most only pay overtime after 40 hours on the week...and even then, if the industry is exempt from having to pay OT, it is entirely up to the company as to whether or not to pay.

Gloves, boots, jackets, earplugs, etc...are job-related expenses you'd have whether you were on the road or not. Nice try, though. Mattresses are supplied by the company, and blankets you probably already had laying around the house. The fridge and microwave are 1-time purchases that if you take the purchase price divided by the lifespan of the appliance, is next to nothing.

It doesn't cost any more to be on the road as it does to be home. Hell, if you want to compare costs, you save money on the road by not having to commute every day.